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jammerbirdi
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cthskzfn
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Location: In a world where a PSYCHOpath like Trump isn't potus.
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tfan
Joined: 31 May 2010
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 Posted: 07/21/17 3:42 pm ::: |
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| Back in the mid-90's someone left a "higher end real estate" magazine lying around work. It was almost all property in crowded areas and mostly California, particularly Beverly Hills area. Then they had one place in Wisconsin. It was the same price as the other properties, but instead of an acre or two, it was over 200. And bigger square footage with extra amenities like an indoor to go with the outdoor pool and tennis courts. And some number of golf holes. Just an amazing amount of stuff extra if you were willing to sell your Bel Air house and live in suburban or rural Wisconsin.
Last edited by tfan on 07/22/17 12:45 am; edited 3 times in total |
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tfan
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Richard 77
Joined: 19 Nov 2004
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Location: Lake Mills, Wisconsin
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| Posted: 07/22/17 12:06 am ::: Re: Let's dream together... |
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The only dream I have is to be a well-respected and well-read author. I don't need big fancy houses, or sleek cars. I just want to be debt-free. I do have items on a bucket list like biking the U.S., Poland and Romania, as well as finding a nice woman to share my dream with and having a family, but all in due time..._________________ If you cannot inspire yourself to read a book about women's basketball, or any book about women's sports, you cannot inspire any young girl or boy to write a book about them. http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/Richardstrek |
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jammerbirdi
Joined: 23 Sep 2004
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jammerbirdi
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| Posted: 07/22/17 3:21 am ::: |
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| tfan wrote: |
| Back in the mid-90's someone left a "higher end real estate" magazine lying around work. It was almost all property in crowded areas and mostly California, particularly Beverly Hills area. Then they had one place in Wisconsin. It was the same price as the other properties, but instead of an acre or two, it was over 200. And bigger square footage with extra amenities like an indoor to go with the outdoor pool and tennis courts. And some number of golf holes. Just an amazing amount of stuff extra if you were willing to sell your Bel Air house and live in suburban or rural Wisconsin. |
I've been on Zillow and probably an earlier competitor of Zillow for about 6 years or so. So this I know and it's a pretty good yardstick I think.
In terms of house and land, qualities all being equal, the difference in prices for what you get between California (in general, where you'd want to live) and most of the rest of the country is 10x. Not in every case and not to the dollar but this is pretty much the difference in the money. Land is a wild card of course. A pretty dumpy old farmhouse and barn on 300 acres of prime farmland changes the equation.
In many cases the gap would be more like 5x, 7x, but more often than not my eyeballs see it right up there near 10. Now in the case of the first mansion in Tennessee that I posted, that would not be going for $39M here in Beverly Hills. But it would definitely be in the upper 20s. The second place, $800K^ in Morgantown WV, in Beverly Hills or north of Montana in Santa Monica, that same place would run you an easy $8M. No question.
So, for me, uh... I'm never going to own anything here. Thus the theme of this thread is, for me, taking California money and (dreaming, of course) seeing what that would get us elsewhere in the country.
So, just to blow your minds, the $800K the second house I posted costs, would get you, if you'd have it, a 2+2 800-900 square foot condo on the Westside of LA. Less than that , say $599-699K, will get you a 650 square foot 1+1. And I'm here to tell you, big buildings, shared laundries, and all the problems and issues of too many people living on top of each other. There's no way we're ever going to buy a 40+ unit apartment building lifestyle here when we can just rent it for less and be free and clear. Anyway.
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jammerbirdi
Joined: 23 Sep 2004
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jammerbirdi
Joined: 23 Sep 2004
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| Posted: 07/22/17 12:28 pm ::: Re: Let's dream together... |
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| Richard 77 wrote: |
| The only dream I have is to be a well-respected and well-read author. I don't need big fancy houses, or sleek cars. I just want to be debt-free. I do have items on a bucket list like biking the U.S., Poland and Romania, as well as finding a nice woman to share my dream with and having a family, but all in due time... |
Well I hear you on the first sentence regarding accomplishments. I have many that I'm working on as well and I wish you luck in achieving your dreams in that area.
Travel isn't the highest priority for me but sure I'd like to do some more.
As far as finding or having a nice woman to share your life with... that's where things become... well... you're then on the other side of something, through a looking glass, so to speak, and your life's priorities and concerns and responsibilities change to include this person who is now like a second YOU. lol.
So for so long now I haven't been running on my own desires or needs in terms of what dreams I have. I'm getting a lot of input as well. 
After 40 years together and knowing someone is likely to be around after the other one isn't... me being the dude who concerns himself with what the future holds... not really her thing... I have to take a cold hard look at many things. First we assumed for most of the last 30 years in Cali that LA IS our home, and would be for the rest of our lives. Ideally, that would, at this point, be the preferable case. For many reasons, financial, the prospect of getting around the city as our driving skills continue to fade in the face of probably the most intense driving experience in the United States... all of that stuff... it will take almost a well-played chess game level of moves on our part to ensure that we are able to remain here on the westside.
We will be confined to an apartment. Dealing with changing housing market pressures and landlords who are in this to make money, after all. There are always stories of seniors being evicted under the Hatch act and for other snaky reasons that apartment owners and ownership companies cook up. There's plenty of laws in LA but very little mechanism in terms of enforcing those laws.
My entire adult life I've had one primary job and that is ensuring the happiness and well being of mrs jammer. So in this situation we're in, I can easily see, should something happen to me, the many vulnerabilities that she could and would be facing. The shit is daunting.
This place has changed so much. This is, like Manhattan, ground zero for the new gilded age in America. The influx of the well to do from around the globe puts tremendous pressure on people who are not seriously affluent themselves. We're doing okay. But this is the big pond. And it gets deeper and deeper every passing day.
All of this has us entertaining the thought of taking our California money and running back to where you can get a nice house in a great neighborhood for a fraction of what that would cost in California. So the difference for us is this. Accepting that we will never own a home of our own and staying here in a really nice apartment in Beverly Hills or Santa Monica. Or, incredibly, finding that you could actually buy a HECK of a home on a good sized lot in a fairly affluent neighborhood in PA, Maryland, the South somewhere, etc.
Anyway. It's nice to have options. They have been hard earned. And it becomes a pretty weighty responsibility to figure out what would be best for both of us. I'm just trying to have some fun with it.
Again, good luck to you.
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jammerbirdi
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tfan
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Howee
Joined: 27 Nov 2009
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Location: OREGON (in my heart)
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| Posted: 07/22/17 10:51 pm ::: |
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Okay. I GOTTA weigh in here. 
(By the way, if ANYONE here can help me post pics of my own, I'd be DELIGHTED to share what IS my Dream Realized....I just can't get 'em here!)
For now, I'll post facsimiles of what I have as illustrations of Dreams Realized:
[img]https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRLKnZ8zT171pV1p5koS_zcy9vYdOpiMeTCoc497iZ4O-TolR2YAg[/img] My home is of similar size. On a half-acre lot.
[img]https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSFIrwW9Gh7AvgrcSrvkQr8Hk7UCuxUtD5eXKGkmUx2-ZECeUmoNw[/img] I have 3 goats a bit like these. I have wanted my own goats since I was a kid (pun intended).
[img]https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQRGHm292b8HfnDEFOBfB6c_42J4-wD7ODMXS3OxQ_DyiuBNNIVzw[/img] I am retired from a career as a teacher, which was my most burning desire as a youngster.
[img]https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRI8C9Oa_GvlgDMkeOqqjEzsdp-luhg7PAl-ePf_4ttjmpsfu3ZPw[/img] I made my partner of 22 years my husband in 2012.
^(Jammer, can you fix these?)^
While I love the pretty pics of houses that are (for many) quite unattainable--especially if you live in Cali--I have come to believe that these HUGE aspirations of Large Material Acquisitions are maybe a significant part of what's wrong with our society: WE'RE TOO GREEDY.
No. There is nothing "wrong" with desiring/dreaming of such material things, but the expectation that one has somehow NOT fulfilled an important dream if you DON'T get that far is a source of great unhappiness, and the perception that you AREN'T living The American Dream.
If I'm not mistaken, the OP here was meant to invoke thought about how various Dreams--and their attainment--may vary with geography. I merely suggest that, since Dreams are CREATED by ourselves, we keep them realistic and not predicate them on what (our corporate machinery/media) feed to us as The American Way: Bigger/Better/Pricier/BUY-HAVE MORE.
Recognize and affirm the Dreams you already live. 
_________________
Oregon: Go Ducks!
"Inévitablement, les canards voleront"
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adamj95
Joined: 09 May 2014
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Location: East Grand Forks, MN
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jammerbirdi
Joined: 23 Sep 2004
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| Posted: 07/23/17 2:35 am ::: |
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| Howee wrote: |
Recognize and affirm the Dreams you already live. |
I hear you, Howee, and I can assure you that both me and the mrs jammer are truly appreciative.
But to say I'm weary of this city is understatement. And I have great concerns about what the future holds for us here in a megalopolis of greed and opulence.
I long to be around some serious nature. I grew up where the woods was never more than a few blocks away. Creeks, fields, meadows, wooded paths. So it's not an endless American materialism I'm chasing but a desire to get back to having some space around me that's green, quiet, and mine.
The question of whether it is even RESPONSIBLE to continue for the duration of your life pouring California rent money out of your pocketbook and into a landlord's wallet, or whether the wiser choice is to run away from that like bats out of hell and get somewhere where rents, property values, mortgages etc. would enable to you OWN your own home... these are all concerns that we would be negligent to not be considering. Anyway.
I don't think I can help you with your images, they don't end in an image format I recognize. But let me see what I can do.
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tfan
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Howee
Joined: 27 Nov 2009
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Location: OREGON (in my heart)
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Luuuc
#NATC
Joined: 10 Feb 2005
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| Posted: 07/23/17 8:21 pm ::: |
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| tfan wrote: |
| I upload pictures that can't be linked with an [iimg] tag to tinypic.com. There may be better ones as tinypic is slow and dies sometimes, but it's free. |
Imgur.com is another good one that doesn't need you to sign up for an account. It also has a phone app.
_________________
Thanks for calling. I wait all night for calls like these.
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jammerbirdi
Joined: 23 Sep 2004
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| Posted: 07/24/17 6:48 pm ::: |
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| jammerbirdi wrote: |
| Howee wrote: |
Recognize and affirm the Dreams you already live. |
I hear you, Howee, and I can assure you that both me and the mrs jammer are truly appreciative. |
In the appreciative dept. We come home from dinner last night and we're standing next to our cars in the street talking to a neighbor lady. A Range Rover drives past and I'm thinking... is that ......?
Conversation continues then I see this person walking up the sidewalk behind us, right past our building, etc. and I'm "HEY!, great concert at the Kodak Theater a few years ago." He's on the cell phone but he puts his hands together like humble prayer kind of thing and says thank you. I'm like... "That tune, Sail On, LOVE that." By now the girls are like, "We love you, Lionel!" Etc. He was like, "Thank you so much," etc. Super humble and nice. Anyway. So... yeah... we have to and do remain appreciative. Just figured I'd share.
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$3.9M
Lots more.
